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Scorpion downpipe for the FL


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#1
Fivepotfan

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Has anyone got any experience (good or bad) with Scorpion exhausts fitted to their car? Over the past few months I have been contemplating the addition of a downpipe and have been looking at all the options available for the FL car.

Up until recently the popular fitment has been Milltek (and IROZ if you live in the US) but a few more have now appeared in the marketplace. such as APR, Wagner, Bull X and one which has caught my eye...Scorpion.

 

The are several reasons that the Scorpion exhaust has attracted my attention.

1. It's a 4 inch system (Milltek is only 3inch)

2. It looks like it can be run as a catted system or if preferred it can be de-catted by simply loosening two clamps and removing the middle section and adding a straight pipe (see link) in place of the cat.

3. It's cheaper than the other popular downpipes (the APR version being over £1500)

 

https://www.scorpion...sports-catalyst


Edited by Fivepotfan, 30 December 2018 - 10:29 PM.

now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.


#2
Hal

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I have a scorpion downpipe - however it is on a PFL car. I did not realise until I clicked on your link that Scorpion use a single downpipe for the FL. Mine is a twin pipe together with their sport cat pipes. Apart from ease of manufacture, I wonder why they changed.

 

All I can say, is that the PFL one appears well made and fits well (although there was some swearing in getting the twin pipes lined up...)



#3
Ruxy

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I used to have a scorpion on my b5 and it seemed pretty well made, sounded good and was nice just to be different from the mainstream milltek.
like the idea of a sleaved cat👍
I reckon the only 4” part of that is the top elbow /flange judging by the rest of the picture and scaling it all together ???

#4
Fivepotfan

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I used to have a scorpion on my b5 and it seemed pretty well made, sounded good and was nice just to be different from the mainstream milltek.
like the idea of a sleaved cat
I reckon the only 4” part of that is the top elbow /flange judging by the rest of the picture and scaling it all together ???

On a closer look I reckon you are right. Nice big unrestricted chamber at the turbo flange and then it looks as if it reduces down after the first bend into what looks like 3 inch diameter. I am also making an assumption that the cat can be swapped in and out again because the two pictures on their website show the pipes either side of the catted version as identical to the non catted pipe. If I decided to buy one I will give Scorpion a call first to check.


now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.


#5
JayRS3

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What about a BCS downpipe Brian? Just chucking that one out there. I haven’t looked but I’m assuming they must have one by now. Normally BCS are all sectioned so sports cat removal is a case of 2 bolts on/off or decat.

My downpipe was a last minute thing and didn’t have much of a choice as I was already at the tuner when they said I’d need more than a decat stock. Otherwise cast APR or the 4” Bull X I would have chosen (the Bull x looks similar to oem but sounds really nice after seeing some videos)

Edited by JayRS3, 31 December 2018 - 06:40 AM.


#6
seanix

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What about a BCS downpipe Brian? Just chucking that one out there. I haven’t looked but I’m assuming they must have one by now. Normally BCS are all sectioned so sports cat removal is a case of 2 bolts on/off or decat.

My downpipe was a last minute thing and didn’t have much of a choice as I was already at the tuner when they said I’d need more than a decat stock. Otherwise cast APR or the 4” Bull X I would have chosen (the Bull x looks similar to oem but sounds really nice after seeing some videos)

Yep BCS is a decent unit. Easy to swap the cat for a test pipe if needed. It's 4" and just clears for a tight fitment. Comes with a 100cel cat as option.





Current - 2018 RS3 Sedan
Past - 2016 RS3 SB

#7
Fivepotfan

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What about a BCS downpipe Brian? Just chucking that one out there. I haven’t looked but I’m assuming they must have one by now. Normally BCS are all sectioned so sports cat removal is a case of 2 bolts on/off or decat.

My downpipe was a last minute thing and didn’t have much of a choice as I was already at the tuner when they said I’d need more than a decat stock. Otherwise cast APR or the 4” Bull X I would have chosen (the Bull x looks similar to oem but sounds really nice after seeing some videos)

The APR cast downpipe looks good quality but it would damn well have to be at nearly £1600. By the time you add 4 hrs of workshop fitting time plus some map tweaking it's £2k of investment for a bit more noise and around 8-10ps more power. 

Adding a downpipe is part of some additional mods I have planned for early 2019 and will help reduce the thermal load at the turbo due to the cat being so close on the stock DP. However, I struggle justifying the ratio of cost versus gain for the downpipe mod but extra power and some exhaust noise is a welcome addition.

The Scorpion downpipe looks to be good value and may also give the flexibility of being able to add or remove the cat just by undoing two clamps and fitting a straight piece of pipe (NB: I need to contact Scorpion to check if this is possible)


now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.


#8
Fivepotfan

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Yep BCS is a decent unit. Easy to swap the cat for a test pipe if needed. It's 4" and just clears for a tight fitment. Comes with a 100cel cat as option.





Current - 2018 RS3 Sedan
Past - 2016 RS3 SB

The tight fitment of the larger 4 inch BCS DP is a bit of a concern for heat management. I see BCS actually offer a heat resistant wrap to help protect the underside of the bodywork.


now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.


#9
Ruxy

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Is it necessary for 4”? I’m fairly new to these and no nothing about the engines regarding tuning and it’s weaknesses/limitations. Coming from a b5 rs4 background where twin 3” down pipes were the preferred and more than adequate for 7/8/900hp cars. Quick calc in my head suggests that 4” single isn’t too dissimilar to 3” twin in terms of area?

#10
RS3Dell

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Is it necessary for 4”? I’m fairly new to these and no nothing about the engines regarding tuning and it’s weaknesses/limitations. Coming from a b5 rs4 background where twin 3” down pipes were the preferred and more than adequate for 7/8/900hp cars. Quick calc in my head suggests that 4” single isn’t too dissimilar to 3” twin in terms of area?


Ruxy.

The twin 63mm (2.5") downpipes which start out at 100mm (4") at the turbo on the 8P have 30% more surface area then a single 100mm (4") pipe.

The only rub is one of them has 2 nasty flatten bends which don't help with flow,but still works well once decatted as a cheap upgrade downpipe.

Both the PFL & FL have a much much better design downpipes.

Dell.

#11
Slipperjake

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I’m running a bcs 4” down pipe with heat wrap very well made product and fits nicely. I

would recommend changing the V-band clamp while your at it as well genuine Audi part is around £25.

0901f9f916111b58c165b4559ea7ebf4.jpg

36fb3df288e71682c9daf6b9db7c76d0.jpg


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#12
BenTTU

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Scorpion exhaust are well made and have great quality that out last alot of other manufacturers. 

  

Regards to the flow of the exhaust 4" is fine the comment about the b5 3" downpipes is actually overkill as we have seen over 500hp from stock gutted downpipes on the rs4 which works out just over 4". And the restriction in the end was the stock turbos not being able to flow any more.  Dont get me wrong in the end everything will have its limits.

 

 Also my pfl RS3 8v is on a stock gutted downpipe running 510ps.

 

Ben



#13
Hal

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So, is the opinion that having twin pipes on the pfl downpipe was probably a waste of time and they could have done just as well with a single pipe?



#14
RS3Dell

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So, is the opinion that having twin pipes on the pfl downpipe was probably a waste of time and they could have done just as well with a single pipe?


Hal.

The twin downpipe set up is probably to facilitate the 2 secondary cats mate.

Dell.

#15
SK-RS3

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I ran scorpion de-cat pipes on my 8p great quality.

Also run scorpion exhausts on previous motorcycles always been good quality and sound decent too.

#16
Fivepotfan

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Bit of an update on the Scorpion downpipe for the FL car.

So after pondering some of the possible options and also considering price etc, I decided to give Scorpion a call and place an order for one of their stainless downpipes with a sports cat. I also opted for the straight section of de-cat pipe which can be substituted in place of the sports cat if desired. My logic behind having the extra short straight section of pipe is that by undoing the two C clamps I can fit either the sports cat or straight pipe without having to remove the whole downpipe. This may come in handy if I don't like the noise/smell of the full de-cat, or maybe when MOT time comes round in a couple of years.

 

The car is booked in at MRC in March for fitting and switchable custom mapping along with a few other mods that I have planned over the next few months. I will share the before and after dyno results which will be interesting to see how it performs. I also plan to do some more Santa Pod runs (from April onward) to see how it compares with the stage 1+ tune the car was running last year.

 

Here's some pics of the downpipe...

 

IMG_0359.jpg

 

The sports cat can be easily removed by undoing the C clamps and fitting the short section of straight pipe.

IMG_0362.jpg

 

It's a four inch beast at the turbo end and taper's into a 3 inch section....

IMG_0358.jpg

 

IMG_0363.jpg


Edited by Fivepotfan, 07 February 2019 - 02:48 PM.

now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.


#17
Hal

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Good idea having an interchangeable cat/pipe! Mine on the pfl is fixed.

 

I sent a note to Scorpion asking for the technical reasoning in having a single pipe for the fl compared to the double pipe on mine. Have not had the courtesy of a reply!



#18
Fivepotfan

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Update on the Scorpion downpipe:

 

Well............the news is not good. I had my car booked in at MRC for fitting the Scorpion DP as part of some other upgrades (Forge turbo elbow, switchable mapping and some servicing for oil/plugs etc).

Unfortunately the damn thing did not fit, more specifically the mid-sections (either the sports cat or straight pipe) fouled the underbody heat shields (not even close to fitting). Very disappointing as the top section fitted very nicely and looked a good design with the large 4 inch pipe tapering down to a 3 inch mid pipe section. I contacted Scorpion who were very apologetic but needed to understand why the fitment was so far out. I will be talking to them next week to try to work out what has happened.

So with the car up on the ramps and the stock downpipe stripped off (stock DP is a horrendous looking thing) the only option I had was to fit a Milltek decat which MRC had in stock. This went on with no issues, the Forge turbo elbow was fitted and the car went on the dyno for a couple of hours.

End result was 520ps and 727nm on 99ron and 541ps and 767nm on octane booster. This was a trial with the NF Ultra octane booster but the car didn't seem to respond as well as it does with the NF Race formula.

As for the Milltek......after a couple of days of driving around I have to say that the full decat pipe is not for me. It is certainly loud, I would say  louder than the my pfl car with secondary decats. Its a fantastic sound at full chat but as a daily driven car it's just too much. Then there is the issue with the smell of exhaust fumes that enter the cabin when you rev the engine or stuck in slow moving traffic. I have decided to have the sports cat fitted which should be about right for me.

 

The stock DP with massive cat situated close to the turbo.....

IMG_0434.jpeg

 

The Scorpion DP and mid section was too far to the left hand side and touched the heat shielding. Scorpion are aware of this and will try to figure out if I have been supplied wrongs parts (for the pfl car by mistake for example) 

IMG_0435.jpeg

 

....and the Milltek fitted pretty easily. The Scorpion pipes looked better quality and the 4 inch top section looked good too. Disappointing that I didn't get to try it.

IMG_0438.jpeg


Edited by Fivepotfan, 17 March 2019 - 11:35 AM.

now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.


#19
Hal

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Update on the Scorpion downpipe:

 

 

The Scorpion DP and mid section was too far to the left hand side and touched the heat shielding. Scorpion are aware of this and will try to figure out if I have been supplied wrongs parts (for the pfl car by mistake for example) 

 

The Scorpion pfl exhaust is twin pipe from the turbo all the way down. I would have hoped Scorpion would at least know their own product before saying something like this!


Edited by Hal, 18 March 2019 - 08:50 AM.


#20
Fivepotfan

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The Scorpion pfl exhaust is twin pipe from the turbo all the way down. I would have hoped Scorpion would at least know their own product before saying something like this!

To be fair to Scorpion they have contacted me today and offered a full free of charge fitting at their factory to understand why it does not fit my car. Also offered a tour of their manufacturing facility and compensation for my travel costs.

Not a bad offer for the inconvenience I have experienced.


now driving a 'Daytona Lite' FL car.




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